


Discovering happiness

by sunamorim



Category: La casa de papel | Money Heist (TV)
Genre: F/M, serquel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:27:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25583602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunamorim/pseuds/sunamorim
Summary: I adapted the story of the wonderful movie called The Holiday to our favorite couple, Serquel.
Relationships: Raquel Murillo/Professor | Sergio Marquina
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys!! So, as the summary says this is an adaptation of the movie The Holiday, to Serquel. I'm writing this story in Portuguese, but I decided to translate it to English. I hope you like it. By the way, if you haven't seen the movie I suggest you watch it because it's fantastic! This story will have about 6 or 7 chapters. I'm @sunamorim on Twitter.

_"I've found almost everything ever writtenabout love to be true. Shakespeare said "Journeys end in lovers meeting." What an extraordinary thought. Personally, I have not experienced anything remotely close to that, but I am more than willing to believe Shakespeare had. I suppose I think about love more than anyone really should. I am constantly amazed by its sheer power to alter and define our lives." - The holiday_

As much as she already suspected, being sure of what was happening behind her back for months, it hurt the same way.

She was in love with him. Even after everything he did, the feeling she had for him was still there. But there is a moment when you wake up to reality and can't take it anymore, and the last events were the last straw.

She wipes the tears from her face and hears him knock on the bedroom door.

"Raquel, please, stop with the drama. Open that door." Alberto shouts, knocking again and again.

The blonde faces the huge king size bed that she used to share with him.

_How did I let things get to this point? How could I be so stupid?!_

When she hears him knocking on the door once again, anger takes over her and she gets up on impulse, grabbing the first suitcase she finds and punching his clothes inside. When the suitcase is completely full, she sits on top of the object to help it close and pulls the zipper around the entire suitcase. 

Pushing the suitcase by the handle to the bedroom door, she unlocks it and open it. She ignores him and goes down the stairs with the suitcase, him following behind her. When she gets to the door, she drops the suitcase and turns to look at him.

"Here are your things. Now go away. Later you can ask your little friend Pietro to come and get the rest here. I don't want to see you ever again." Raquel demands, holding back her tears. She refuses to cry in front of him.

"Raquel, it doesn't have to be like this. I already told you that nothing happened…" Alberto tries to justify himself, raising one of his hands to touch her face but she takes a step back.

"Look me in the eye, Alberto." She asks. "Look me in the eye and say you didn't have sex with Laura." He looks away from hers, staring at the floor.

At least bastard has the decency to feel bad about what he did, she thinks wryly.

"Yes, Raquel. It happened, I don't know how..." she doesn't let him continue, closing her hands and throwing a punch on his face.

looks at her in shock, placing his hand on his nose, where some blood starts to come out.

"You, get out of my life. Now." She demands, pointing her hand towards the door.

"This is your fault, you know?" He accuses. "You work so hard, you barely had time for us. You didn't even have time to make things official between us. We lived together for 5 years now and whenever I tried to talk about marriage, you would change the subject. You didn't pay attention to me, you weren't good at sex. You didn't know how to do it right, it was always the same monotony. And then Laura was there…"

She punches him again, feeling her hand burn.

"You cheat on me with my own sister, and you dare to put the blame on me? Aren't you ashamed to say that?" She screams.

Her hand flies back to his face, and before he recovers, she opens the door of the house.

"Get out!" 

This time he doesn't protest. With his head down, one hand on his nose and the other on the handle of the suitcase, he leaves.

She closes the door and leans her back on it. Raquel closes her eyes, inhales and exhales, trying to calm herself down. As much as Alberto's attitude was disgusting and nothing justified what he did, Raquel knew that about one thing he was right: she really worked a lot.

Being a film director, woman, is not easy. It takes a lot of dedication and sweat to get a little prestige and be able to show this misogynist world that despite being a woman, you are still an excellent director. We live in a world of men, where like it or not, many still see that a woman's place is at home. And if the woman works, and things start to go wrong at home, the woman's partner soon blames her work. It's automatic. 

And she would never give up her job, or apologize for spending so much time devoting herself to it. It is indescribable the joy she feels being able to show her vision of the scene, being behind the screens and analyzing the best angle for the scene to be filmed, the best light. Every detail has to be taken into account for the scene to be perfect, and she loves to think about all the details. If Raquel Murillo is one of Spain's most renowned directors today, it is thanks to her own efforts

She wipes her face and walks over to the kitchen, putting some ice in her hand. Raquel looks at the huge house around her. The living room, with the wooden deck on the wall, the glass coffee table, the black leather sofa. The kitchen - one of the places she visited least because she hated cooking - the garden, the pool. And now she lives there, alone. Without anyone. Raquel begins to feel small inside her own home, and it starts to feel hard to breathe.

She walks over to her office and turns on her notebook, determined to find a trip and get out of there as soon as possible. A quick Google search takes her to a website with houses for rent in several countries. She gives preference to countries that speak her language, Spanish, and chooses Argentina. As far away from Spain as possible, the better. By clicking on Argentina, five different options for houses in Buenos Aires appear.

The director clicked on one of the houses, but soon gave up on the first. It was too big. She had the same opinion on the second one. In the third option, she ended up falling in love with the house, and even more with the location. It was a small country house in a neighborhood a little away from the city center called Recoleta. It was exactly what she was looking for. A cozy house, a little away from the center but not too far away.

Next to the photo of the house, there was a space to send a message to the owner of the place.

"Hello, my name is Raquel Murillo and I would like to rent your house. I wonder if your home is available for Christmas. Because if you are, you can be a life saver."

The owner of the house was online and quickly replied.

"Hi Raquel! My name is Andrés. I'm very interested, but this site actually only works with home exchange."

Raquel frowns, confused.

"What do you mean, home exchange?"

"We change houses, cars, everything. I never did that before, but some of my friends did. Where do you live?"

"I currently live in Madrid."

"I spent a good part of my life living there, I always wanted to go back. How is your house?"

"My house... I must say it is a little bigger than yours."

"It's not too difficult to be, haha."

Raquel laughs, loving Andrés's sense of humor.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Are there any men in your town, besides you?"

"Honestly? No. Can we make the switch?"

This is crazy. So crazy, she was considering accepting it. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Okay, well, I accept. When do you want to make this switch?"

"For me, it could be tomorrow. To tell you the truth, I'm a little anxious to change the environment and breathe new air. I need to get out of here."

"Problems with women?"

"Man. I ended up falling in love with my boss, he made me believe that the feeling was mutual but in fact he was just playing with my heart. I found out yesterday that he is engaged to a woman."

"I'm sorry, Andrés. If it's any consolation, I also want to leave here due to emotional problems."

After almost an hour of conversation, she finds out that Andrés is a writer who works for a newspaper, but his real passion is to write poems and screenplays for films. He refers to his boss as "Arturito". They exchange phone numbers and addresses, and decide to change houses the next day and continue like that for two weeks.

Raquel buys the ticket for the next day in the morning and goes to her room to pack up, putting a lot of summer clothes inside. Then she calls her co-worker, Palermo, saying that she will need to stop by his place.

While parking her Mercedes in front of her Latin friend's house, she sees a man giving him a peck on the lips and leaving. The blonde sighs, disagreeing with the way her friend lives his life, each day with a different man. All she wanted was for him to settle down and find someone he could commit to. B

Palermo closes the door to his house, the director gets out of the car and walks over to him.

"Raqueeeel!" Palermo screams excitedly and throws his arms around Raquel, giving a kiss on her cheek.

She loves his energy. Loves how excited he always is, always with a joke on the tip of his tongue. She met him fifteen years ago, and he was one of the people who helped her most to get to where she got in her professional career, her right arm.

"Hi big head" Raquel smiles, returning his hug and kiss. "Were you with a new man today?"

"Yup" he winks at her, opening the door for them to enter. "I already told you that I haven't found the right person yet, and until I do, I'm having fun with the wrong ones."

"Well, life is yours" Raquel's mouth twists. "I just hope you find the right person soon. Not only you, but me too."

"You?" Palermo looks at her, confused. "What about Alberto?"

"I broke up with him today." she throws the bomb while sitting on the couch.

Palermo throws his arms up, repeating hallelujah over and over again.

"Wait, can you repeat to see if I understood correctly, please? Are you done with him?"

Raquel rolls her eyes, while her mouth curves into a smile.

"Yes, I broke up with him." She repeats. "He had sex with Laura."

Palermo's eyes widen. It was no secret that he never liked Alberto. But right now, he would rather be wrong than see his friend suffer.

"I'm sorry, Quels." He comes over and hugs her, trying to comfort her.

"I'll be fine." she promises. "I won't be suffering because of him. But that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I decided to travel."

"Travel?" He asks shocked. "During all the years that I've known you, I feel like you hardly took a vacation."

"Yes, but now I need to put my head in place. I feel like it'll be good for me."

She tells how it will work, and his reaction doesn't disappoint.

"Quels, I never imagined that you would do such a thing! I love it! You are going to Argentina, to know the place where I came from!"

"Yes! I will finally be able to visit this place that you speak so well of. I will need you indicate some places for me to sightseeing."

"You got it, I'll send you a list of places you need to visit." Palermo says excitedly. "So this guy is going to be living at your house for two weeks?"

"Yes, he will, he should arrive tomorrow night. I would like to help you with the alarms at home, I don't know if he will be able to arm and disarm it himself."

"Okay, give me his contact details and I can see when he arrives and I'll help him out."

"Thanks. But look, see if you can manage to not hit on him, okay? He is sad, vulnerable... stay in your lane."

They laugh and Palermo promises to behave. After talking a little more, she leaves. Upon arriving home, the director calls her agent to tell her about her trip, and then she finished packing her suitcase. Since the time of her trip is very early, she decides to go to sleep.

The next day the alarm goes off interrupting her sleep, and she takes a shower. On the way to the airport, she hopes she is doing the right thing. Hoping that this trip really brings good things to her life. She checks in, and when they start calling for her flight, she positions herself in the queue and gets on the plane, sitting on her place by the window.

Fortunately, tiredness wins, and soon after serving breakfast, she sees a movie and ends up falling asleep for the rest of the travel. Raquel wakes up only when they are about to land in Buenos Aires, la Paris de Sudamerica.

Her first view of Buenos Aires is a lot of green, and as the plane gets closer she can see better the huge amount of buildings and houses around her. The plane flies over the Monumental Stadium of Núñez, the largest stadium in Argentina.

After the plane lands, she goes to the landing session, takes the two bags she brought and takes a taxi at the airport door. Raquel feels a good adrenaline rush through her body when giving the driver the address of Andrés' house.

She sees the landscape on the way, watching the late afternoon give way to night and the lights turning on and illuminating the streets.

It cannotb denied that Buenos Aires has a lot of European influence and this is super easy to see, especially in the city's architecture and urbanism. When they reach the right street, Andrés' rustic house immediately catches her attention. A beautiful house made of stone, with a beautiful garden in the front. A fence made of the same stone as the house closes the front of it.

The driver helps to unpack the trunk, and then leaves. Upon entering the house, despite not knowing much about Andrés, she can say that the house simply screams his personality. In the living room there is a fireplace with several dishes with details in blue decorating on top. A red sofa with white stripes. The color of the kitchen cabinets is a shade of dark blue mixed with light blue. A wooden table in the center of the kitchen, with a wheeled furniture on the side. The curtain with colorful prints. The floor is made of wood and under the table there is a rug.

Everything is full of colors and alive.

A spiral staircase takes you to the second floor, and Raquel is in love with every corner of this house. She finds a bathroom as soon as she goes up the stairs, with a wonderful bathtub, and right after that she has a bedroom with a double bed.

The director goes up with her suitcase to the bedroom, and starts to pack things in the wardrobe. When she finishes, she decides to take a relaxing bath in the bathtub. She puts on a black blouse, a jacket on top and leggings and goes downstairs to prepare something to eat.

When analyzing the contents of the refrigerator, she sees that Andrés left some fruits, eggs, pasta, and two bottles of wine. Raquel makes an omelet, and drinks some wine. After dinner she sits on the couch to read the book she brought with her on the trip: Emily Bronte's, Wuthering Heights.

She was rereading this book partly because of work, partly because of her own will. The complexity of this story has always intrigued her, and when she found out that Spain was going to make a film with this story at the beginning of next year, and that she was going to have the opportunity to be the director... she was in awe.

After reading for a while, she finds the atmosphere very calm and decides to pick up the wine and have some fun. She takes off her coat and leaves it on the couch, and goes up to put on another outfit. Changes the blouse and pants for a black lace body, with some transparent parts.

That body has always made her feel sexy and empowered.

She goes down with her cell phone in hand and turns on her Spotify, selecting a dancing playlist. Britney Spears' Hit me baby one more time song starts playing and she fills her glass with wine and takes a long drink. Her body starts to sway to the rhythm of the song as on its own accord. Raquel danced with her arms up, waving her hair when she shook her head slightly.

Four songs and two glasses of wine later, Britney's Toxic song starts playing and she dances around the room, rocking her hips and singing along with the song.

Despite the loud sound she hears the front door opening and looks startled at the person who enters. He's a relatively tall guy with glasses.

The director panics when she realizes that she is alone, on another continent with a man who just broke into the house she's staying at. A thousand theories as to how this can play out pass through her head and none brings a little peace to her. They all end with her body dumped in some ditch and the authorities taking years to find and recognize her body.

She tries to look around for something she can use as a weapon, and opts for a lamp.

"Andrés, you won't believe..." he laughs closing the door.

Her hands are about to close against the lamp when she hears his laughter. Raquel turns her face towards him, being attracted by the soft sound he makes. He laughs with his eyes almost closed, and for a moment the director is mesmerized.

When he turns around, his eyes go wide when he sees that it wasn't Andrés who was there.

The two adults scream at the same time and she runs to hide her body behind the curtain.


	2. The first last kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go, another chapter of my story! I'll try to update every Tuesday. Thank you Thay, Tais and Nic for all the support with this story. I hope you like this chapter, please let me know your thoughts!

_"For some people, inexplicably, love fades. For others, love just goes away. But of course, love can also exist, even if only for one night." The Holiday_

Raquel covers her body with the curtain and leaves only her head out, watching as the strange man, with a horrified expression, takes his cell phone out of his pocket and walks towards the kitchen.

She closes her eyes and starts praying to all the saints she knows, pleading for him not to be a serial killer. 

_Please don't let me die here alone. Well, at least if I die now I won't die in my sweatpants like I did before, but I don't want to die now, my God._

That's when she realizes something.

_Wait a minute. This guy knows Andrés, he said his name._

When she realizes this guy is probably one of Andrés' acquaintances, maybe a person he had a romance with, her heart starts to slow down. Feeling calmer, Raquel comes out from behind the curtain and picks up her coat on the couch she was using earlier and covers her body with it. 

With a quick look at the kitchen she sees that he is on his back, talking to someone on his phone. He was wearing a black suit, and the back of his hair appeared to be so soft that she felt like running her hand through the black strands he owned.

The director takes a deep breath and looks at herself in the mirror between the living room and the kitchen, and takes the opportunity to fix her hair, which was all disheveled because of the dance session.

 _Joder, did he meet_ _me like that?_ Raquel curses, running her hands through her hair and fixing as much as she can.

Just as she finishes doing her hair and closes her coat over her body and folds her arms under her chest, the strange man leaves the kitchen.

"Hi," he puts his hands in the front pocket of his pants, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. "Andrés hadn't told me about this change. I'm sorry, otherwise I wouldn't have shown up here."

"No problem, as little as I know of Andrés, it is very much like him to make this trip and not warn anyone." she laughs, running a hand through her hair nervously and hoping she doesn't look like a skunk.

He laughs with her, and their eyes meet each other. Raquel takes the opportunity to observe that he is wearing a white shirt under his suit, with a striped tie. A friendly smile forms on his face, but he soon becomes serious again.

"I didn't mean to disrespect you, or to see too much ..." He was so shy and ashamed that it was comical. Something about his smile and his presence made her so comfortable that she felt free to play with him.

"What you saw happened to be so ugly?" She jokes, trying to lighten the situation.

"No, not at all…" he stammers, adjusting the stem of his glasses and pulling it up. "You are very beautiful, really! I…"

"Hey, relax, I'm kidding." She reassures him. "This situation is a little uncomfortable, but I know you didn't mean it. It wasn't your fault." Raquel smiles, trying to show him that everything is fine.

He smiles back, and she notices the dimples that form around his eyes. The shallow beard makes the shape of his face look even sexier. Time seems to slow down, and she hears her own heartbeat. Her lips goes dry, and she runs her tongue to moisten them.

"Thank you for understanding. I won't disturb you anymore, so I'll let you go back to your night."

For a moment, she has a strange desire to ask him to stay longer. When walking towards the door, something catches the man's attention. He stops beside the table and places his hand on the book she was reading earlier, Wuthering Heights.

"I didn't say it's not love, it definitely is, but I know it's ephemeral and that time will change it like winter changes trees," he recites a passage from the book that he knows by heart, looking at it.

"And even if I loved you with all the strength of my body, even in a hundred years I couldn't love you as much as I loved you in a single day." She ends the sentence, with a smile on her face. "Wow, do you like this book?"

"I confess that I was forced to read in high school, but then I ended up becoming fond of the story."

"I have the slight theory that everyone who gives themselves a chance to really understand the story of this book, ends up falling in love with it." she admits. "It is one of my favorites."

"You have good taste." He answers and moves toward the door, ready to go.

"You didn't tell me your name." She accuses, opening the door for him.

"My name is Sérgio." He offers.

"Raquel."

He nods with a smile on his face and leaves. Raquel pours herself more wine and throws herself on the sofa, trying to understand the whirlwind of sensations she was feeling. First she was afraid, then she was enchanted by his politeness and his self-conscious manner. The director shakes her head trying to get rid of those thoughts and when finishing another glass, she leans her head on the sofa and ends up falling asleep right there.

Sunlight floods the apartment and makes her wake up early the next day. She stretches and goes to the bathroom, deciding to start sightseeing early. She takes Andrés's car and starts walking around the city.

First, she goes in search of a coffee shop to have a reinforced breakfast, and opts for the traditional Le Pain Quotidien, well known in the city. She takes advantage of the fact that the National Museum of Fine Arts was close to the cafeteria and decided to visit the museum.

The place immediately stood out for its facade, a vibrant brown with a pearl. She spends the next two and a half hours inside that establishment, admiring each work of art. Within the museum's international art heritage, works by El Greco, Goya, Rodin, Rembrandt, Rubens, Renoir, Degas, Cézanne, Chagall and Picasso stand out. 

Two emblematic works by the Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto are on display in this museum. Venus de los rags, a sculpture of the goddess in dialogue with a mountain of worn clothing; and Segno Arte, a door designed according to the measurements of the artist's body - which quotes Leonardo da Vinci's "Hombre de Vitruvio" - proposes man as the key to all things.

Raquel always felt as if art could transform the world. In each artistic work a certain tendency is noticed, a style of time marked by facts that reach the artist's sensitivity. It works as a distraction from certain problems, a way of expressing what we feel to different groups in society. And especially in that museum, the Spanish director realizes how many forms of arts there are. Art can be represented through music, sculpture, painting, cinema, dance, among others.

Art has the power to save us. To distract us from our own mind, to make us lighter and happier.

Raquel wanted to be happy. She wanted to feel good. But during the journey from the museum to her car, she can only feel immense loneliness. When she sees couples walking hand in hand, friends talking, families walking around the city... she feels alone.

And it is for this reason that when she arrives at Andrés' house, she decides to anticipate her return to Spain. The deal was two weeks, but she can no longer stand to spend so much time alone.

When entering the travel site, she books her trip back for the next day. She finishes washing up the dinner and takes a shower, wearing a sweatshirt and pajama pants. As soon as she finishes dressing, she hears someone moving at the door knob and she runs down to the living room.

She feels scared, until she sees Sergio's figure appear, and lets out a sigh of relief. Raquel knows she should be annoyed that he is invading her space again, but at the moment she can only be excited by the opportunity to see him again.

One look in his direction is enough to notice that he is not in his normal self. His hair is all messed up, he's staggering and he smells like alcool. He is wearing a blue button down shirt and his tie is undone around his neck.

He closes the door and when he turns to Raquel, he puts a hand on his forehead.

"Damn, I'm sorry" he asks. "I used to go to the local bar nearby and come here. I forgot that Andrés wasn't here."

Sérgio runs a hand through his hair, clearly nervous, and Raquel restrains her desire to bite her lips at how sexy he was making that movement.

"Okay, I understand." she smiles understandingly. "I imagine that in the state of your drunkenness you must not have remembered. It would have been worse if you had brought someone with you."

They laugh and he sits on the couch, holding his head in his hands.

"I can see that your situation is not very good, I'll get you an aspirin." she offers.

She goes to the bathroom, then passes the kitchen and comes back with a huge glass of water and a pill. Sergio empties the glass, and he starts to feel better.

"I don't want to abuse it too much of your hospitality, but would you let me sleep on the couch? I'm not in a position to drive, and the Uber from here to my house is very expensive."

She considers his request. Letting a guy she barely knows sleep in the same house as her, when they are alone, it doesn't look good. But then she remembers that he is most likely gay, and he seems to be a very kind and genuinely good person.

"Okay." she grants. "I'll get you a pillow and blanket."

She goes to the closet next to the stairs, and comes back with the items in her hands. Raquel leaves the blanket and pillow on the sofa and sits on the coffee table in front of the sofa, facing him.

"I'm not feeling so good here, and I decided to come home tomorrow." She announces.

"How is it that you don't feel so good here?" He asks looking at her.

"Well ... I just broke up with someone. And I think what I felt, is that I didn't want to be alone on the holiday. I thought if I was somewhere else... I wouldn't realize I was alone. So I came here and I’ve never felt more alone in my life. So I decided that tomorrow I’m already going home."

"I'm sorry, Raquel." He says, placing his hand on her knee. "I would like you to remain here, but I hope that returning home will make you feel better."

"That's what I hope for. But that's not even the worst, you know? He said I'm not good at sex. He said I don't know how to do it, which is why he cheated on me. And it just raised a lot of insecurities that I already had about myself. "

She says, feeling like she's talking too much, but at the same time she can't stop. It is as if his eyes are begging for them to let them unravel her, asking her to open up with him.

"This guy seems to be a bit of an asshole." He says with a disgusted voice. "I bet you're the type of woman who knows what you're doing, who knows how to drive a man crazy in bed. I vaguely remember seeing you swinging your hips yesterday."

She feels her cheeks flush and turn red like tomatoes.

"Sorry if I crossed any lines" he says feeling nervous, fixing his glasses. "I know we never had anything, but you should never take into account what an asshole man says. You are much more than that."

Somehow, his words have an effect. She starts to feel better, more confident. More like the woman she was before Alberto's shit appeared in her life.

"Thank you so much for those words, Sergio. You didn't cross any lines, I liked hearing that. I needed this."

"Whenever you want, at your service," he says, jokingly.

They say good night, and when they are saying goodbye he ends up kissing her on the mouth. Raquel walks away and looks at him with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry! My God, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that." He apologizes, pulling his glasses up.

"Wait, but aren't you gay? One of the guys Andrés had something with?" she asks with a frown.

"No, I'm his brother, and the last time I checked, I'm straight." He frowns too, not understanding her questioning.

"Wow, why didn't you say that before?" She asks, her gaze dropping to his mouth.

"I didn't imagine you were thinking that about me and why is all this astonishment?"

 _Ah, men can be so slow sometimes._ She thinks.

"Because I would have done that before." She closes the distance between them and kisses his lips.

Kissing Sergio and being kissed by him was unlike any other kiss she remembered. His hands intertwine in Raquel's blond strands. Raquel sits on his lap, one leg on either side of his waist. She felt the hardness of his chest, his security. She wondered, out of control, what it would be like under the tie, shirt and pants.

What he was doing with his mouth was taking her close to the edge. Not only did he kiss her, he caressed her with fervor. The male hands squeeze her ass over the thin pajama pants, making her moan against his mouth. Sérgio's mouth leaves her mouth and moves to her neck. He licks and breathes against the spot, making her shiver. He nibbles and sucks on the place, putting a little pressure on the area. Raquel sighs and rolls against Sérgio's lap, feeling him automatically get hard with the friction.

The position they are in makes them press right where Raquel wants, and she throws her head back, while continuing to roll against him. Sérgio continues to kiss her neck, and takes one hand to feel her chest.

"Cariño, I think we better stop otherwise I'm going to come." he whispers breathlessly against her ear.

With some effort, she stops and lays him completely on the couch, staying on top of him.

"Raquel, are you sure?" He asks, when she starts to unzip his pants.

"Yes, I'm sure. This thing about us never seeing each other after that, it's kind of exciting. I mean, that's what a vacation should be for. You should go on vacation and do the unexpected. And you… You're totally unexpected. "she says pulling on his tie and bringing him closer. 

They kiss and she opens his shirt, running her hand over his chest. She lets her nails lightly scrape on his chest, and hears him groan against her mouth. His moan sends a tension directly to the middle of her legs. She tosses her shirt and tie away, and puts her hand in the fold of her sweatshirt, pulling it up and removing it from her body.

Sérgio's mouth opens when he sees that she was without a bra and she sees his eyes darken when he looks at her breasts. He wastes no time and then closes his lips against her right breast, noticing that they are as soft as they look. She closes a hand against his hair. He plays with his tongue around the pout and she moans his name for the first time.

"Sergio, please..." she pleads.

"Someone is in a hurry here." he jokes, giving attention to the other breast.

"It's not my fault if you drive me crazy, cariño"

He laughs loving the way the word cariño comes out of her mouth. She decides to stop playing and she gets up to take off her own pants and he takes off his. He leaves his pants on the floor and takes a condom out of his wallet.

"What's it?" She asks, when she sees him staring at her.

"You are so beautiful." He responds, approaching and running his hand over her naked body.

His hand travels behind her back and she feels a shiver runs through her body. She smiles sheepishly.

"Should we go to the bedroom? I think it's more comfortable there."

She says, taking his hand and pulling him up the stairs.

The couple runs up, and when he gets to bed he lays her against it. He stands on top, kissing her. He starts to drop his kisses, kisses the gap between her breasts, her navel, the gap between her legs. Raquel holds her breath in anticipation, until he finally kisses where she wants. He closes his lips against her sex, running his tongue along the length of it. She moans and arches her back in pleasure. He sticks one finger, then two, never failing to lick the place. Raquel feels her orgasm coming and warns him.

"Sérgio, I'm going to ..." but she can't even finish warning, she closes her legs against Sérgio's face and reaches the edge.

He continues to stimulate her until the end, and then goes up, placing a kiss on her mouth. When she tastes her taste in his mouth, she starts to feel aroused again. She bites his bottom lip and his hands play with the nipples of her breasts.

She takes her hand between their bodies, and closes her fingers against his member, moving up and down. He groans and stop her caresses, putting the condom on and positioning himself at her entrance. He slides inside and waits for her to get used to it before starting to move.

He enters and leaves at the same time that he squeezes her breasts gently. It doesn't take long for them to reach the edge, and when he realizes that she is almost there he runs his hand over her body and strokes her clitoris.

She comes for the second time in the night, and the sensation of Raquel's inner walls closing against his member is enough to make him reach the edge too.

Sérgio comes out of her and lies down, sweaty and panting. She covers their bodies against the sheet and snuggles against his body. Raquel is so exhausted that she soon falls asleep.

The next day, when she wakes up, she notices that the spot on her side is empty. The director puts on a black robe over her body and goes down, the smell of food coming from the kitchen.

She sees Sergio in front of the stove, already fully dressed in the clothes from the night before.

"Good morning." She says, feeling uncomfortable and not knowing how to act.

"Good morning," he says, turning towards her and smiling at her. "I'm making a gourmet egg with tomato sauce. Can you turn on the toaster please?"

"Sure thing." She goes to the toaster and presses the power button, but nothing happens.

"I think your brother's toaster isn't working."

Shes says, pressing the button again and nothing.

"Raquel, I think..." he says, leaning his body behind her body and tilting his arm to reach the outlet.

"That you forgot the plug." He whispers against her ear. Her breath catches and she closes her eyes, trying to control herself.

_Raquel, he lives in another country._

_Raquel, you're leaving._

_Rachel, this can't work._

She sighs, and compose herself, placing the bread in the toaster, which is now on. They drink coffee in silence, and different from what Raquel thought, it is not at all uncomfortable.

He helps her do the dishes, and his phone starts to ring. She didn't want to invade his privacy, didn't want to see who it was, but his phone was right in front of her and there was no way she couldn't see it.

"It's a person called Paula. Sorry, I didn't want to see who it was, but it was here in front of me." she says.

"No problem. I'll answer and I'll be right back" he takes out his cell phone and goes outside.

She sees him talking, sees the smiles he gives and feels a twinge of jealous. Not that she had any right to be jealous, she knew she wasn't. However feeling jealous or not, she decides that it would be best for her to continue with her decision to leave.

Although he is a kind and apparently straight and half-nerdy guy with his charming glasses, there is no guarantee that he is not a womanizer. After all, they say the quiet ones are the worst, and they don't say that for nothing. And in the stage of life that she is in, the last thing she needs is someone who plays with her heart and doesn't want anything serious.

"Sorry about that, but I have to go." He says when he comes back, putting his phone in his pants pocket.

"No, that's fine. I'll have to go to the airport in a little while."

"Think fondly about staying a little longer, please." He asks, approaching her. "I really loved meeting you, Raquel. You are an extraordinary woman. If you agree to stay, go to the local bar here in the area tonight. I will love to see you there. And as uncomfortable as it is, I feel like it's my duty to tell you something."

"What?" Raquel asks, anxious for what he is going to say.

Her eyes automatically move to his mouth and her heart starts to beat faster. She forces her eyes to focus on his face.

"Your ex was stupid to say you didn't know what to do in the bed. You definitely do. Yesterday was wonderful."

She laughs looking away from the floor, feeling a warmth between her legs as she remembers the night before. When looking up, she finds Sérgio admiring her with a look so intense that it takes her breath away.

Was it magic that burned between them? Or something more predictable? Her fingers trembles in an almost uncontrollable urge to touch his shirt and bring him close.

"Thank you, Sérgio. Yesterday was really wonderful." She smiles, subtly biting her lips.

"Do you promise to think about showing up at the bar tonight?"

"I do."

They say goodbye and he leaves.

Raquel goes upstairs to pack her bags, but when she is almost done she has a strong feeling of doing something wrong.

She sits on the bed and runs her hand through her hair, remembering when Sergio's hands made this same movement.

When she remembers him, she is intoxicated by the smell of him still present in the room. Why did she want to leave? She was feeling alone, but would she feel less alone at home? Could it be that the problem was not the place, but herself?

She closes her eyes, remembering something that her mother once said to her when she was still alive.

_"Loneliness needn't scare you, because she is you. Because love is also about getting to know yourself, silently, without shadows from other people and projections."_

She smiles, managing to hear her mother's voice perfectly in her head. The director realizes that she needs to take care of herself first and allow herself to live this experience before returning to Spain. She needs to allow herself.

Allow herself to dream, allow herself to live, allow herself to be intense. Know herself, and especially, feel good about herself. About who she is.

Raquel looks around the room, and as much as she has been there for a few days, she is already familiar with the environment. She can feel at home.

Taking into account the fact that she is addicted to work, she is sure that if she returns to her home now, she will focus on work instead of herself. With that in mind, she calls the travel agency to cancel her ticket. Raquel puts the clothes back in the closet, and goes to take a shower, already thinking about the clothes she will wear at night.


	3. The way to happiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New Tuesday, new chapter! I hope you like it! Please don't forget comments are the writers' fuel, and it truly keep us motivated to keep writing/translating. I truly look forward to hear your thoughts about this chapter!

_ “It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy - it is just disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other and seven days would be more than enough for others. " _

_ \- Jane Austen, "Sense and sensibility". _

  
  


She was nervous, her hands sweating and her heart racing. Raquel felt like she was going on a date, and it brought something good inside her. The idea of meeting Sergio again unleashes a stream of terror through her body. What a strange feeling of emotions, feeling excited and terrified at the same time. She felt like a teenager.

Despite feeling happy and scared at the same time, choosing clothes to go to the bar was relatively easy. She wanted to choose something elegant, but comfortable, something that showed a little of her personality as well. She opted for a black dress with a v-neckline that went a little below the knee, with designs of small red origami at the end of it. The dress fit her very well and fit her curves in the right places.

The director preferred to wear simple makeup, just a little concealer, mascara on her lashes and a nude lipstick.

She arrives a little early at the bar, and when she looks around the place she sees that Sérgio is not there yet. She sits at one of the tables and asks for a dry martini accompanied by some snacks. The drink helps to calm her nerves and her heart, and she thanks herself mentally for having the time to relax before seeing him again. When she is finishing her drink and the plate of snacks is already empty, she sees him entering the bar.

Her heart starts to race, and she takes the rest of her drink in one gulp. Raquel places the glass on the table and looks at him, at the same time that he meets her gaze, as if he has a magnet, drawing him to her. As if she were the negative pole and he was the positive pole of two magnets, causing them to be automatically attracted to each other.

Sérgio smiles at her, a smile that reaches his eyes and brightens his gaze. His smile reflects on Raquel's face involuntarily.

"Hi Raquel." she greets, leaning down to kiss her pink cheek.

The director contains the urge to run her hand where his mouth touched.

"Hi Sérgio."

"I am very happy to see you here, to see that you have decided to stay. If it is up to me, I will do my best to make your stay worthwhile."

She smiles, noticing how truly happy he is to find her there. It is surreal how much he already means to her, despite the short time they have known each other. The promise implied at the end of the sentence makes her lips feel dry and she runs her tongue over them to moisten them.

"Well, I realized that the problem that was plaguing me here would continue to follow me if I went back home, so I saw no point in rushing around."

Sérgio nods, as if he can really understand her, can see through her.

"Are we going to order anything for us?" he asks and she quickly agrees. "Have you ever tasted Argentine beer?"

"I don't think I have time to prove it yet."

"But this is a sin! We have to remedy this immediately."

He asks the waiter to bring a long neck of Antares beer. The rest of the night passes like a blur. The couple is drinking and talking until practically the place closes. Raquel is startled to see that time has passed so fast and it is already late. Talking to him is very pleasant, Sérgio always has an opinion on any matter whatsoever. And mostly, he makes her laugh.

The director can't remember the last time she laughed so hard. Hell, she couldn't remember the last time she had felt so free. All her life it had been a sequence of seriousness after seriousness. This man in front of her gave her something that she never had, and that she probably wouldn't find in anyone else. The chance to be free and enjoy life was a gift she never thought she would receive.

When they arrive at Andrés' house, he closes his mouth against hers and takes her against the door. It's wonderful just like the first time, and she notices how Sergio is a gentleman and a kind person. He cares about her pleasure, her needs. He kisses every speck on her body, making her shiver when she kisses one near her chest. His beard scrapes against her soft leg when he bends down to kiss her sex.

At the end of the night, he puts his chest against her back and puts his arm around her waist and they fall asleep like that.

It was almost noon when the couple wakes up. The bright Argentine summer sun came through the curtains and illuminated the room. Raquel stretches, feeling a warm body touch hers.

"Good morning." Sérgio says, leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

"Hmm, I could get used to waking up like that." she smiles, turning to face him. "Good morning."

"If I could, I would stay here, right now, with you. Forever." her eyes convey so much truth, so much love, that it makes her sigh. "Waking up to your scent and having you in my arms is fantastic."

The director hides her face in his neck, embarrassed, feeling a smile from ear to ear appear on her face. He puts a hair behind her ear, and places a kiss on her mouth.

Her small, feminine hand takes his face, caressing the place. Before they can deepen the kiss, Raquel's stomach starts to grumble.

"I think someone's hungry," he murmurs against her mouth.

"Unfortunately, I can't deny it," she admits. "My belly did me a favor."

"We can't make you hungry." Sérgio gives her one last kiss and getting up from the bed. "It's noon, what do you think about skipping breakfast and going to lunch together in a restaurant?"

As much as she was afraid of becoming too attached, looking into her eyes she cannot find reasons to say no.

"I accept." she responds, covering her body with the sheet. "Just wait for me to take a shower and change and we can go."

The director stands still, waiting for him to leave the room.

"What? Are you ashamed? It's nothing I haven't seen yet." he smirks.

Raquel can't help the laugh she lets out. Picking up a pillow, she hurls towards him, who raises his arms in surrender and leaves the room. The blonde walks to the bathroom and takes a quick shower, choosing to wear a flowery dress along with a beige flats.

Sérgio says he has a restaurant in that same neighborhood that he would like to introduce her to. They drive in his car to the restaurant, and the director uses this opportunity to take a closer look at the neighborhood.

Noble and aristocratic, the Recoleta neighborhood has several historic buildings with beautiful architecture, cafes, restaurants and wooded squares. The climate is typical of summer - a strong sun, but with winds that happily soften the heat a little bit.

He drives slowly with just one hand while using the other hand to hold her hand all the way. When he stops at a red light, he looks at her with a slight smile on his face bringing her hand close to his mouth and placing a kiss there.

In less than 10 minutes they arrive at the place, and he quickly gets out of the car to open the door for her. Raquel smiles, delighted by the gesture.

Upon entering the restaurant called La Querencia, they choose a table in the corner, for more privacy. The place is very large and bright. Sérgio pulls out the chair for Raquel to sit down and she smiles again with his chivalry.

Men like him are so hard to find today. Being a gentleman is not thinking that a woman is fragile, weak and inferior, quite the opposite: it is admiring her strength, determination, dedication, and wanting to ease her burden through small gestures that mean a lot. And Sérgio clearly understands this very well.

The waiter arrives to take the couple's order, and they order two empanadas of starter meat, and lentils, which is nothing more than a lentil stew accompanied by meat, bacon, sweet potatoes, potatoes and red chorizo.

"Did you know that I find myself wanting to know more about you, about what do you like?" Sérgio asks when the waiter leaves after taking their order.

He reaches across the table and she places her hand over his, and he smiles, shyly, his cheeks flushing. She finds it funny how he manages to be totally uninhibited between four walls, but shy when he has other people around.

"Is it true?" She asks looking at him from under her long lashes. "What would you like to know?"

She watches him swallow, his Adam's apple rising and falling, and she smiles victoriously.

"Um, good" he nervously fiddles with his glasses. "I would like to know your profession, what do you do."

"I work as a film director in Spain. I have been working in this business for many years, but it was only three years ago that I did a job that really gave me greater recognition."

"And do you like working with this?"

He asks, and automatically a smile appears on her face and her gaze lights up.

"You don't even have to answer, just that look says it all." He says, smiling.

The light from the restaurant hits Raquel in a way that makes her even more illuminated, and Sérgio finds himself unable to take his eyes off her face, stunned by her beauty.

"I love what I do, Sérgio. A lot. Telling a story is what moves a film director. This is the function that goes through all the stages of cinematographic making, but that is enhanced through the creative and narrative choices that director will do, from pre-production to finalization. As the conductor of an orchestra, he leads other professionals to execute his vision for the film. And that is my role, I am the conductor. I love being able to tell a story from my point of view. "

"How beautiful the way you talk about your profession. I'm very happy that you are able to do something that you love."

"Thanks." she smiles, putting her hair behind her ear. "And you, what do you do?"

"I am a chef, I work in a restaurant here in Buenos Aires. But it is on the other side of the city. I am currently taking a few days off."

"How cool! I wanted to know how to cook more, but I'm a terror in the kitchen."

"Maybe I can teach you."

"I'm going to love being your student,  _ professor _ ."

She purposely lowers the tone of her voice at the last word, assuming a sexier tone.

He looks at her, his mouth partially open in shock. The director laughs, looking down and trying to hide her laugh. Raquel feels Sérgio's foot slide down her calf, reaching her knee.

It is Raquel's turn to look, shocked, at Sergio's black eyes. He raises an eyebrow as if to say, "See? I know how to play too."

_ Bastard. _

A pretentious smile is still present on Sergio's face when the waiter appears with the typical Argentine empanadas. They eat in comfortable silence, and then the main meal arrives.

The director takes the opportunity to ask and find out more about Sérgio, and he says that he and André are the children of a Basque couple, who are still alive in San Sebastian, in the Basque Country.

When they finish eating, his phone starts to ring, and Raquel sees again that it is a person named Paula. Again. Sérgio says he needs to answer. He goes to the garden in front of the restaurant, and less than two minutes later he returns. Raquel finds it strange that this same person called again, but tries not to care about it. She has no right to control his life.

Sérgio says that Raquel needs to taste the Alfajor of dulce de leche at the restaurant. The couple asks for an Alfajor for each, and Raquel feels herself in heaven when she takes the first bite of that delicious candy.

"Did you like it?" he asks anxiously for the answer.

"I loved it! It looks like a gingerbread, only better."

He agrees with the comparison she made, and the moment they are finishing the candy, he stops it.

"Wait, it's dirty here." he reaches out, and with the tip of his thumb wipes the corner of her mouth. He brings his finger close to him and sucks his finger, looking into her eyes as he does.

Raquel bites her lip, imagining him sucking something else. He has already proven himself to be good with his tongue. The waiter appears, breaking the bubble they were in, asking if they want anything else. Sérgio says no, that he can bring the bill.

The chef does not let the director pay for anything, and after leaving the restaurant they decide to enjoy the garden that is there in front of the place. The smell of grass surrounds the place, full of roses and eucalyptus.

They kiss passionately, and he leans her against an eucalyptus tree, biting her lip and she runs her hands through his hair and squeezes it in return. With a deep breath, they stop to catch air and go to the car.

Inside the car, something starts to change inside Raquel.

Or rather, she starts to notice things that she was not noticing before. As much as she doesn't want to admit it, Raquel knows that she is already too attached to him, and she has been trying to fool herself by saying that this is just a summer fling, but deep down she knows that it is much more than that.

She is taking great risks of falling in love with him, a person who lives on another continent. Another hemisphere. It is true that there is a distance relationship, and that with technology things have become easier, but even so. Distance relationships are not something she wants at this stage of her life.

Raquel mechanically answers the questions he asks, but her mind is elsewhere.

"Raquel, can I come with you?" he asks, when he parks in front of Andrés' house, running his hand over her bare leg.

She sighs, trying to organize her mind.

"If you don't mind, I would like to be alone now."

He frowns, confused, but respects her decision. Raquel kisses him on the cheek and gets out of the car, entering the house. The moment she enters and closes the door, tears starts to fall.

She picks up the phone and calls Palermo, desperate.

"Hello?"

"Hi Palermo, it's Raquel." she wipes her face and clears her throat, trying to control her voice, but it's useless.

"Quels! What is that voice?"

"I think I did screw up, Palermo."

"What happened, my friend? Do you need me to get you out of jail?"

She can't help it, and starts laughing. She just loves how he has that humor that always lights her up.

"I think I'm falling in love again. With Andrés's brother."

"And why is this bad? Does he treat you badly?"

"No, that's not it. He treats me very well. It makes me feel wanted, loved, understood. He makes me laugh. I think I have laughed more since I got here than I have laughed in my entire life." she sighs, feeling tears fall again. "It is bad because of the distance. I am no longer able to live a relationship like this. At some point one of us will have to move, and I am not ready to let go of what I achieved in Spain, and I also do not think it is fair ask him to leave his life here. "

She was already thinking about a future with him. She wanted this, she wanted to find a way to make it work, but she couldn't find it.

"I understand what you're feeling, but you can't let this fear you're feeling sabotage you ..."

"It's not just that fear, I don't want to be in this long-distance relationship, and I don't want him to be forced to move."

"Friend, if he's willing to move, that's his choice. I think you're sabotaging yourself, Quels. You think this is going to go wrong, that it won't last, and you're trying to get it over with. In fact, I think the problem is that you think you don't deserve it. "

She swallows hard, knowing that he has hit the central problem.

"You've heard so much shit from Alberto all these years, that you don't think you deserve such a good love. But you do, if there is someone in this world who does, that person is definitely you." he continues.

"Ay Palermo, what would I do without you?"

"Your ass would die single and your feet would die of cold forever during the winter nights, I'm sure of that."

"Jerk." she laughs, tilting her head back. "But seriously, thank you so much for those words. I love you, my wonderful Latin."

"I love you too, Quels, now go run after that man."

"I'll try, I promise. Kisses."

They hang up, and Raquel thinks about everything Palermo said. Trying to believe his words, trying to let his words sink in.

She deserves respect. Deserves to love and be loved. She deserves to feel that love in every little bit, in every detail. She deserves to feel that happiness, deserves to feel that healthy passion burning inside her heart and her body. It may be early and maybe even hasty, but she knows that what she is feeling for Sérgio is love. She has loved before, and knows how to recognize that feeling. And she deserves this chance to enjoy and know everything that love has to offer her.

With that in mind, it is already night when she has the courage to call Andrés to get Sergio's address.

"Hi Raquelita! How are you?" he answers, with his usual good humor.

"Good and you?"

"I'm very well, Madrid is even more incredible than I remembered. Wait, Sergio is calling me too."

"Ask him how he is, please." she says quickly.

"Ok, a moment"

"Hi," Andrés calls back. "Sérgio said he's fine, and he misses you."

Her heart starts to beat faster when she hears this. Apparently, she hasn't completely ruined everything. A smile from ear to ear forms on her face.

"Can you give me his address, please?"

"Wait, I'm going back to Sergio " he says, after giving her the address. "Sergio, did you sleep with her?" he asks screaming. "Fuck! She didn't want a relationship! She asked me if there were men in Buenos Aires, and I assured her that it didn't! And my own brother goes there and does that?  _ Joder _ , Sergio!"

"Andrés, it's still me" Raquel says holding on with laughter.

She is so happy that she cannot care about it.

After she finishes the call, she is in ecstasy, a unique euphoria. She changes her clothes, putting on matching sexy lingerie, jeans and a black silk tank top and decides to take pajamas to his house, in case everything works out and she stays there tonight.

The director gathers her things and goes to the car, using the GPS to find Sergio's house. It is a white house. When parking in front of his house, she walks to the door and rings the bell. A few seconds later he answers the door.

"Raquel, what are you doing here?" He asks, confused.

"I want to apologize for earlier." she explains. "And I brought wine." she says excitedly pointing to the bag she is holding.

"Daddy, who's there?"

She overhears a child asking, and soon after, a blonde girl, approximately 8 or 9 years old, appears beside him.


End file.
